Today's guest needs no introduction for the sports fans in our group. Matthew Berry, Class of 1992, is now a central part of NBC Sports NFL coverage, following a 15 year run at ESPN where he found a niche as the fantasy sports expert.
But we start with Matthew's time in Syracuse. He was multi-platform before it was cool - writing a humor column for the Daily Orange, and working on a sitcom at UUTV before joining the Cray-Z Morning Crew at WJPZ. At Z89 he worked with Kendall B, Adam Shapiro, and Chris Lindsay. We go back to some of his favorite bits.
When he graduated, Berry went to Hollywood to pursue a screenwriting career, with his writing partner and classmate Eric Abrams. We go through their journey of writing for George Carlin, Kirk Cameron, and eventually, the final season of Married With Children.
As fantasy sports grew in the late 1990's, Matthew leveraged his Hollywood experience to land a writing gig for a website. Soon, he was thinking much more about fantasy sports than television and movie scripts. He found a niche for himself and hustled, soon building his own website and being his own publicity machine. He worked his way onto the air on ESPN Radio Los Angeles, and over to several other ESPN properties before finally getting an offer to become the Fantasy Expert at The Worldwide leader.
Berry spent 15 years at ESPN, becoming a household name. But a year ago, he left ESPN and moved over to NBC Sports. He candidly discusses the two main reasons he switched networks.
Throughout this episode, you'll hear some great advice from one of our most successful alumni. Matthew offers networking tips, talks about hustle, and the need to sometimes "fake it til you make it."
We also chat about his experience returning to Syracuse to keynote the Banquet several years ago. At Faegan's, he went from flip night participant to the center of attention. But he'll be quick to tell you, his beer pong skills remain as strong as ever.
More:
Matthew Berry's Fantasy Life Website: https://www.fantasylife.com/
Matthew's Book, Fantasy Life can be found on Amazon here.
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The WJPZ at 50 Podcast Series is produced by Jon Gay, Class of 2002, and his podcast production agency, JAG in Detroit Podcasts.
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